Wild finch, broken wing; help please

[Meep]

Great news - big improvements!

There is still a bit of droop on the left wing, but her level of in-cage activity has dramatically increased. I am trying to balance releasing her as soon as possible with making certain she is fully recovered, and also that she can handle the transition. There is plenty of food in the outdoor feeders, so that will not be an issue.

I also wonder about the cold nights, and the transition. Monday will be nice, but after monday we have rain and cold night temps in the 40's and even down to 35. I'm not quite sure how to transition her to that.

I also wonder about the best time of day for release. I'm thinking morning, around 9:30.

I wish I could identify her by sight, so we could recognize her on the feeders

[Ursula]

I also would release her in the morning.

As for the temperatures: whats the forecast for the next 5 days or so? I think if it's that cold and gets maybe a little warmer again after that I'd rather keep her a few more days...

I'm glad she's doing so good already!

[nelloyello11]

Maybe during the few days before you release her, you could bring her outside in the cage for a while to acclimate her a bit before she's on her own.

[Meep]

As for the temperatures: whats the forecast for the next 5 days or so? I think if it's that cold and gets maybe a little warmer again after that I'd rather keep her a few more days...

The forecast is tough! 30 mph gusts tomorrow night, low of 61. But then night time lows will be 45, 40, 35, 41, 49 (sat night), with a chance of rain on the first three. You know, the weather where you look outside and think "gosh, those poor little birds!" So she's in for some rough weather.

It'd be hard to keep her through this weather spell - she has gotten so much more antsy. That's obviously a sign of improving health. But I think we all know a wild bird would push to be released *ahead* of a complete recovery. And there is still a bit of wing droop.

There are huge pine trees she can shelter in within 30 yards of three feeders and three baths (and five more behind the house). So she is very likely going tomorrow. I want her to be able to re-join her flock, so the sooner the better.

[Meep]

Serious new health question before release - I have observed some open beak behavior that may be gasping.

It has had me somewhat confused. I was just reading another health thread and saw a video of similar behavior in another finch. Perhaps this is related to her impact injury, or it could be some other malady? Recall from my earlier posts that she had some assymetry in her breast area near the head/neck that looked like swelling from the impact. That has improved and looks fairly symmetrical.

She is not vocalizing much at all. If she hears other finches, she will peep. But not much of anything otherwise.

[Meep]

I've been doing searches on the topic of panting and open mouth breathing.

The open mouth behavior seems to happen after she's been active in the cage and is hyper about getting OUT. Given her level of ever increasing activity and energy, I tend to think it may be a combination of hard breathing and defensive behavior.

I first observed this the day after her accident, when I first tried to release her. I don't think the frequency or intensity has really changed. It happens when she's hyper about flying the coup.

It is only 62F or so around the cage right now, so it is not ambient heat.

I would still appreciate the voice of experience on this aspect. I'm inclined to go ahead with the release this morning.

[Ursula]

I am not that experienced and hope somebody else will chime in as well, but I think it might be a sign of stress and anxiety. I think you are right, she's just desperate to get out, now that she feels better. I think if the wing looks ok and you think she can fly, maybe it's really better to release her soon, despite of the temperatures. If she's kept in the lower 60s now she should be fine.

Good luck little bird!!

[lovemyfinch]

I tend to agree with Ursula, it is probably time to let her go and be her carefree self.
Being a wild bird, she is not used to being cooped up, and now that she is well she is probably getting stressed out.

Good luck my little friend. And good luck to her saver as well

[Meep]

As of 9:40 AM EST, she's free!

Thanks to everyone for their help!

I placed her cage outside on a bench, surrounded by shrubs and small trees, near the feeders. After ten minutes or so, I opened the door. She was out within ten seconds.

She flew ten feet to some small birches. After 5 minutes of rest and hopping around, a bit of nibbling, she flew ten feet to a very large cherry with a bunch of canopy shelter and three feeders. There are ten finches out there now

I would describe her flight as somewhat slow, but seemingly accurate. If I had it to do over, I would have kept her a bit longer. Maybe a couple more days. Of course you don't want her flight muscles to atrophy, but a sprain is a sprain and you know what it is like to try and use a sprained ankle too soon. I hope she can continue to improve and that the rigors of wild, outdoor livin' do not compromise her ability to heal. That said, I am entirely confident that she'll be just fine.

I'll try and post a pic of her on the feeders. As I look at the other finches, the texture and size of their foot bones tends to confirm that she is very young. Maybe a fledge from this year.

There might be some pet finches in our future. She is *so* cute.

Thanks to everyone for their help!

[Meep]

Here's the funny story of her capture that I haven't posted.


I did make a mistake when I first caught her. I first saw her at around 7PM, and there was a thunderstorm on approaching on the radar. I hoped she would leave, and waited until 7:35 to take action. She was stationary on the porch and I was able to approach within a few feet. My mistake was not being decisive enough when I finally reached for her.

In hindsight, I should have used a towel, though my hands would have been adequate - if only I'd been decisive. My moment of indecision allowed her to hop down the two steps of the porch, and then to the ground... This was not a graceful descent - she was very dazed. She prompty hopped under the porch. This is a wooden porch surrounded by rose bushes, with extremely limited (on your belly) access. Further under, for fifteen feet, it turns concrete with really no access. So there was the risk that she could be driven in deep. She was hiding under the steps. My time, and daylight, were limited. I had no assistance available.

I was unable to get her out using various implements, and of course not wanting to injure her. Leaving her overnight was a bad idea with all of the predators in our yard (foxes, coons, etc), plus the chance that she'd just wander off, unable to fly. I made the decision to remove a board from the step. That entailed using impact screw tools to remove 10 rusty screws. Extremely loud. And then some prying. Lots of prying...

That done, she was nowhere to be found. I was bummed. And as I was thinking it wasn't going to happen and preparing to put everything away, I saw her between the rose bushes, watching me. The noise had driven her deeper in, but then she climbed up to the light. Her dazed state allowed me to slide a yard stick behind her, to prevent retreat back under the house. She was oblivious to the yard stick. I wanted to react to it, so it would drive her out. Preventing retreat was tricky - I had to play it right... Her dazed state was critical. I shook the yard stick harder and harder trying to scare her out. I wanted both hands free for capture. Finally she looked at the yardstick. She wanted to retreat toward it, but I finally drove her out. She had a hard 18" hop down to the sidewalk, and then I had her.

She was very lucky!

[lovemyfinch]

Such a beautiful ending to the story
Now she can go on and bless us with her own babies next year

[Ursula]

Such a beautiful ending to the story
Now she can go on and bless us with her own babies next year

Second that!!

[Meep]

We've been watching the feeders, but I haven't been able to spot her. There have been vast numbers of finches feeding, so that isn't too surprising. She's in with a great group of finches. I'll fill the nyger tube feeder at 3PM, and it will be half gone by 6! Their consumption is up tremendously in the past couple weeks. That's in addition to the mixed seed and the sunflower seed. We also have a hanging basket below the mixed seed feeder, and there will often be a half dozen finches in there (until a big fat dove comes along and bowls them out).

We do have one tiny little cutie who is still being fed by a "Bert bird". This little finch seems to be a late bloomer. I haven't seen her land on a feeder yet - she constantly peeps her head off, wings all atwitter, for Dad to feed her. She needs to fatten up for winter!

And there's a bald cardinal, with a blue head. She looks absurd. Her head must be really cold when she flies or sleeps.

We're supposed to get a freeze tonight - low 30's

[Ursula]

I'm sure she's fine, being in such a big group.

I can see a young one being still fed on our feeders too. I was surprised that they would have babies so late in summer. Luckily our temperatures are still pretty high. Freezing in September sounds cruel!!

[Albinosilver]

What a lovely thing you did to help her. Though from the picture, she looks more like a juvenile. The adults in winter have white wing bars.